The cold weather may have deterred a few Goodgym volunteers from attending on 10 December,  but respect for the three members who did turn up.    They were joined by a redoubtable ECCO trio:  Andrea from Laurier Road,  Cedar Road’s Ann Douthwaite and Angela from Lebanon Road

Andrea led the planting session on the Joan Pick legacy bed.  She quickly noticed that two lavender reports planted in the summer to replace two stolen lavender bushes had in their turn been recently stolen. Putting aside disappointment,  Andrea planted some new flowers and shrubs.  On the positive side,  there were plenty of survivors from previous planting parties,  which have continued to give colour and life to the bed.   The front of the bed really gives cheer to observant passers-by.

Other volunteers picked up litter and removed weeds and overgrowth.   13 bags were filled with green waste,  and two with litter.  A great effort on a night when volunteers were chilled to the bone.  The bags were duly removed by Veolia.

I am very grateful to Tracey Bellamy,  who spearheads the Council’s support of clean and green initiatives and who provides and collects the correct equipment on each occasion,  and who also liaises with Veolia to ensure that the filled bags are (generally) quickly removed.

A final thanks to the Goodgym and ECCO volunteers for their work during the year,  and particularly Andrea Perry who masterminds the planting. 

Jerry Fitzpatrick, ECCO Clean and Green Street Champion

jerryfitzmsp@gmail.com